EEVIEW — TKOnCAIi MEDICINE, ETC. 9 



aasociatefl with the close proximity of stables aud cowsheds to human habitations. This, Animals— 

 if confirmed, is fresh evidence of the numerous links uniting human and veterinary pathology continued 



and the necessity for a combined study of both sciences. 



Ankylostomiasis. This is a subject of very considerable importance in the 

 Sudan, owing to the latter's close relations with Egypt and to the large number of 

 Egyptians, military and civil, in Government and other employ. Of late years a good many 

 new facts have been elicited about this disease. Of these, none is more suggestive than that 

 referred to by Ferguson,' of Cairo, namely, the influence of intestinal sepsis in the 

 production of the advanced anajmia. The sites of attachment of the worms, he states, 

 become, sooner or later, minute septic foci, and the influence upon the blood of the 

 absorption of the septic matter from these foci is well marked. He also refers to 

 the active myeloid transformation occurring in the femur, and draws attention to the 

 similarity of the blood condition in some cases of ankylostomiasis to what is found in 

 progressive idiopathic anaBuiia. Boycott," on the other hand, contrasts these two 

 conditions and maintains that in ankylostomiasis the apparent anemia is due almost 

 entirely to the diluted condition of the blood. He points out that the production of the 

 mechanism of this hydraemic plethora in ankylostomiasis is as obscure as it is in chlorosis. 

 He shows by an estimation of the total oxygen capacity of the blood that it can scarcely be 

 due to the multiple small hfemorrhages such as might be caused by the parasites, which, 

 though they are said to feed on the intestinal mucous membrane, do at times contain blood. 

 Indeed, it is stated^ that at post mortems on cases of ankylostomiasis the greater majority 

 of parasites are swelled out like leeches, that the contents of their intestines consist of 

 blood, and that so firm is their hold upon the mucous membrane that it is not easy to 

 understand how any food other than the blood from the bite can gain access to their buccal 

 cavities. Moreover, it is to be remembered that Loeb and Smith have described certain 

 organs producing a powerful anti-coagulant substance. If, therefore, Looss's theory that the 

 intestinal mucous membrane forms the worm's food be correct, what can be the use of this 

 curious secretion? 



Macdonald* has directed attention to the presence of ankylostomiasis in Australia, and 

 the tendency to moral degeneration associated with the disease. This occurs in children as 

 well as in adults, and is probably due to a weakened physiology of the victim and an 

 existing nerve toxin. Happily thymol in curing the disease abolishes the tendency towards 

 immorality. Manson confirms Macdonald's observations as regards children. 



Schtiffner^ has an interesting paper dealing with the skin irritation produced by the 

 passage of the larvae into the tissues, and has observed, in Sumatra, that other parasites 

 present in the stools, notably Strongylus stercoralis and the larvae of a fly, were apt to 

 crowd out the young ankylostomes, so that it was difiicult to obtain cultures of the larvae. 

 This is an important observation, but requires confirmation. While on this subject one may 

 refer to a paper by Branch'' on the culture of ankylostome lai-vae. He has found both 

 varieties of the worm, namely, A. duodenale and N. americanus, in the West Indies, and has 

 succeeded in obtaining the larvae by the following procedure : — 



a portion, the size of a hazel nut, of ffecea, containing abundant ova, is laid on a piece of lint in a Petri 

 dish, and enough sterile water is added to gatixrate the lint and wet the bottom of the dish. The dish is 

 left at room temperature exposed to light near a window and the supply of water is maintained as required. 

 The larvae hatch in about three days, and after two or three days more they begin to find their way into 

 the water at the bottom of the dish, which must be kept wet enough. Soon after they are hatched one may 

 see larvae swarm on the surface of the ffeces by breathing on it. They protrude their bodies and wave 

 excitedly. They climb on each other so as to form actual tufts which can be picked off with the poiat of a 

 needle. 



For mounting he recommends embedding in a smear of glycerin and egg-white, treating 

 with absolute alcohol, washing to dissolve out the glycerin, and staining with hsematin 

 and eosin. 



' Ferguson, A. B. (November 9th, 1907), " Anaemia in Ankylostomiasis." British Medical Journal, p. 1320. 



- Boycott, Arthur E. (September 9th, 1907), " Anaemia in Ankylostomiasis." British Medical Journal, p. 1318. 



' " Ankylostomiasis Infection vid the Skin " (November 1st, 1906). Journal of Tropical Medicine, p. 340. 



•• Macdonald, T. F. (January 11th, 1908), " Experience of Ankylostomiasis in Australia." Lancet, p. 102, and 

 Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, .January loth, 1908, p. 25. 



" Schiiffner, W., " Ueber den neuen Infectionsweg der Ankylostomalarvae durch die Haut." Cent.filr Bakt., 

 Originale I., Vol. XL., p. 683. 



" Branch, C. W. (November 1st, 1907), " Notes ou XJncinaria." Journal cf Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 

 p. 352. 



